Door-hold-open device



March 23, 1943. v J. J. MULDOON 2,314,416

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Filed April 2 Y @MM Patented Mar. 23,1943

DOOR-HOLD-OPEN DEVICE John J.' Muldoon, Roseville, Mich., assgnor to Ternstedt Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application April 2, 1942-, Serial N0. 437,394

This invention relates to door-hold-open devices. f ,f `It is ldesirable with the doors of- `automobiles t0 have a positive means for holding the Kdoor in open position as the way some of the doors are I now hung there is a tendency for some ot them to swing toward the closed position and interfere withv one getting in or out of the car; Various devices for this vpurpose have been proposed, such aslinks passing through the body post and arranged to be engaged by spring stressed devices, and in some cases means have been associated with the hinges oi the'doorto form catches to hold the door temporarily in open position.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a new and novel ydevice for this purpose which is associated .with the hinge. It can be used either with the conventional concealed hinge having a goose-neck hinge arm or it can be used with a hinge having hinge butts concealed behind the door overlap flange.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal fragmentary section through the body p-ost and the door showing a hinge of the concealed type which is concealed behind the overlap flange. This hinge is equipped with my improved door-hold-open device.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a concealed hinge of the conventional type embodying my improvement.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 5 is a view of the body pillar showing this type of hinge secured thereto.

Referring to Fig. l, i designates the hinge butt secured to the body pillar 2. 3 `designates the hinge butt secured to the door pillar or door jamb 4. Hinge butt 3 has a pair of knuckle carrying arms 5 and Ii which straddle the knuckle carrying arm 'I of hinge butt I. The knuckles on the ends of these arms are aligned and the hinge pin 8 passes through the opening in the knuckles. The knuckle carrying arm 5 is slotted as at 9 to receive a stiff, heavy Wire spring that constitutes the door-hold-open device. This spring has down-turned arms I and I I which fit into holes I2 and I3, respectively, drilled in the knuckle carrying arm I of the hinge butt attached to the body. The main portion of the door retaining spring lies in a horizontal plane and comprises a loop I4 provided with a restricted portion o1 throat I5. The upper knuckle carrying arm of the door hinge butt is bored as at I6 and a hardened steel pin I'I is driven into this bore from the bottom. When the door swings open,

this pin passes along the opening in the loop, passes through the throat i5 which', is slightly smaller than the diameter oi the hardened pin. This spreads the legs of the loop and tends to'hold the door in its open position or iat least in an open position at approximately 57 of opening and the maximum opening is 73.

It may be explained here that many of the doors are so hung that when the door is fully open the `door does not tend to close because the natural swing of the door, aiter'it passes a neutral point, is toward an open position. Hence, thisparticular design of hold-open device will lprevent the door from swinging closed as it passes inwardly beyond that neutral point. I have found that the throat placed in a position to hold the door 'at substantially a 57 angle accomplishes this purpose in some installatio-ns. But with a door that rises at all points in the outward movement, a 57 opening or thereabouts, is Ian average opening movement by the average person and so it is desirable to have the device operative at about this degree of opening.

The hinge butts are secured to the door post or jarnb and the body pillar in the customary way b-y screws which are here indicated only diagrammatically. A box or casing I8 may be welded to the back of the jarnb strip E9 and to the L-strip 2t which in turn is welded to the back of the inner panel 2i and the jarnb strip 4 of the door.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, my door-hold-open device is applied to the box type of concealed hinge with the goose-neck arm. The hinge box is designated 22 and is formed by stamping ya loop in the hinge plate 23 which is secured to the body pillar by screws S5. A facing plate 24 is spot welded to the outside of the hinge box at the po-nts 36. This plate adds strength to the assembly by tying the upper and lower portions of the loop together. The vgoose-neck arm 25 is held in place by the knuckle pin 26. 28 is a spacing flange punched out of the top wall of the box and the arm is spaced from the floor of the box by a similar flange (not shown).

In this space is located my improved doorhold-open device which consists of a heavy, stiff wire spring having a loop formation. A loop 29 has a restricted portion or throat 36. There is another loop 3|, between the throat 39 and the leg 32 which is turned down and passes through the `iioor of the hinge box to anchor the device in place. There is another leg 33 turned down and passing through an opening in the oor of the hinge box to anchor the other end of the spring in place. The spring is, in its general formation, a double loop or S-shaped spring. The hardened steel pin 34 is driven into an opening in the bottom of the goose-neck arm and this hardened pin is'v arranged to pass through the throat 30 which is somewhat narrower than the diameter of the pin, When the pin passes through the throat, the door will be held from swinging closed fat a point approximately 59 in its opening, while its maximum opening may be 79. I do not wish to be in any way confined to the degrees of opening stated here or in connection with the other form of my invention. I merely refer to them as illustrative of the positions where the devices in these two installations are designed to hold the doors.

What I claim is:

l. A combined hinge and door-hold-open device, comprising a pair of hinge members secured together by a knuckle pin and arranged to have relative swinging movement with respect to each other, a spring vmember interposed in part between the hinge members and in the form of a loop with a restricted or throat portion, the said loop having its ends turned in and secured to one of the hinge members and a pin on the other hinge member larger in diameter than the opening in said throat portion and arranged to travel in side the said loop and spread the loop at the throat when the hinge members have rela; tive movement through a given arc and thereby temporarily hold the door in an open position.

2. A combined hinge and door-hold-open device, comprising a pair of hinge members secured together by a knuckle pin and arranged to have relative swinging movement with respect to each other, a spring member in the form of a loop with a restricted or throat portion, the said loop having bent-over legs secured to one of the hinge members and a pin on the other hinge member of larger diameter than the opening in the throat portion and arranged to travel inside the said loop and spread the loop at the throat when the hinge members have relative movement and thereby temporarily hold the door in an open position.

3. A combined hinge and door-hold-open device, comprising a pair of hinge members secured together by a knuckle pin and arranged to have relative swinging movement with respect to each other, a spring member in the form of a double loop of S-shape with a restricted or throat portion, the said' spring secured to one of the hinge members and a pin on the other hinge member arranged to travel inside one of said loops and spread the loop at the throat when the hinge members have relative movement and thereby temporarily hold the door in an open position.

4. A combined hinge and door-hold-open device, comprising a pair of hinge members secured together by a knuckle pin and arranged to have relative swinging movement with respect to each other, a spring member interposed in part between the hinge members and in the form of a loop of heavy spring wire with a restricted or throat portion, the said loop having its ends secured to one of the hinge members and a pin on the other hinge member arranged to travel inside the said loop and spread both sides of the loop at the throat when the hinge members have relative movement through a given arc and thereby temporarily hold the door in an open position.

JOHN J. MULDOON. 

